Isolation, masks, testing: which corona rules are being discussed

Are indoor mask rules coming back? Does the obligation to isolate yourself in the event of a corona infection end? Politicians are preparing for the Corona autumn. What is discussed? And who is for what?

What is the starting position?

The Corona summer wave is not ebbing away. Last week, the seven-day incidence was still around 700 – and that should only be a fraction of those infected. Because by far not all infected people are currently having a PCR test done. With the returnees and the start of school, the numbers are likely to continue to rise – also because the temperatures will then be cooler again.

Due to the vaccinations and the new variants, Corona has lost a little of its terror. Nevertheless, more than 100 deaths are still registered every day. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has already warned of a “catastrophic” corona development if no suitable measures are decided before autumn.

The problem: In the spring, mainly at the urging of the FDP, corona provisions in the Infection Protection Act were significantly reduced. They form the legal basis for measures in the countries and define possible instruments that politicians can use in the pandemic. The current regulations expire on September 23rd.

The traffic light coalition is currently advising on a successor regulation in the Infection Protection Act – and here there are again different views on how the pandemic should be countered. The FDP in particular is seen within the traffic light government as an advocate of a looser course – and thus as a brakeman.

isolation obligation

So far, anyone who is infected with the corona virus has to be isolated for five days by order of the health department. The isolation regulation had already been hotly debated in the spring. Lauterbach originally wanted the obligation to expire on May 1, but then made a spectacular about-face on the ZDF talk show “Markus Lanz”. As a result, the Robert Koch Institute and the Federal Ministry of Health reduced the isolation period from seven to five days.

Now the debate is back in full swing. The head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, Andreas Gassen, and FDP politicians such as Wolfgang Kubicki and Bijan Djir-Sarai are calling for an end to the corona isolation requirement – among other things because of the many staff shortages. “We will face enormous challenges in systemically relevant areas if we send masses of people who have tested positive without symptoms into isolation,” said FDP Secretary General Djir-Sarai of the “Rheinische Post”. Gassen told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” (“NOZ”): Anyone who is sick should stay at home: “Anyone who feels healthy goes to work.”

The demand met with opposition, including from Minister of Health Lauterbach. He wrote on Twitter: “Infected people have to stay at home. Otherwise, not only will the number of cases increase even more, but the workplace itself will become a security risk.” The Federal Ministry of Health said that the recommendations in force were already being used in the spring to respond to worsening personnel situations.

Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) also spoke out against an end to the obligation to isolate: In view of “a highly dynamic infection situation”, the proposal comes at an inopportune time. The chairman of the World Medical Association, Frank Ulrich Montgomery, told the “Rheinische Post”: “The lifting of quarantine rules for labor market reasons is not justifiable from a medical point of view.” The board of directors of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, Eugen Brysch, also sharply criticized Gassen’s initiative.

Mask requirement indoors

After all, the differences seem small on this point. Even the FDP has already made it clear that they can imagine a mask requirement in autumn – at least “a form of mask requirement indoors”, as Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) put it. Minister of Health Lauterbach is in principle in favor of specifications for wearing a mouth and nose protector.

But the liberals shouldn’t make it that easy for him. Because, as always, it’s all about the details. Where should the mask requirement apply? And isn’t a recommendation for a mask enough, as the health policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Andrew Ullmann, can well imagine?

And then there is the question of schools. Educational associations are calling for masks to be compulsory. “When it comes to ensuring face-to-face teaching, given the scientifically recognized effect of this measure, the timely reintroduction of a mask requirement should not be a taboo subject,” says Udo Beckmann, chairman of the Education and Training Association (VBE). The head of the teachers’ association, Heinz-Peter Meidinger, wants to make it compulsory to wear masks in classrooms from the beginning of August.

Vaccinate

A compulsory vaccination is currently no longer up for discussion. Nevertheless, the federal government wants to step up its vaccination efforts. People over 60 should be given a booster vaccination. Adapted vaccines could also be available in autumn.

But even here it is not without criticism. The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) accuses Lauterbach of having a “wrong” vaccination strategy. The chairman of the federal association, Gassen, expects a maximum of 30 million vaccinations. A second booster for everyone over 60, a first booster for all younger people and a generous contingent for those who have not been vaccinated are generously included. As a result, he fears that 100 million euros or more might be wasted.

The background is a figure reported by the media of allegedly 60 million vaccinations that Lauterbach is planning. However, the minister said: “I never said that we have to vaccinate 60 million people in the autumn.”

In addition, the chief physician is skeptical about a second booster vaccination for younger people. “We know from Israeli studies, among other things, that a second booster doesn’t make sense in younger, healthy people,” says Gassen. Gassen says he sees no need for this in the coming autumn either, as long as there are no new and significantly more dangerous variants. Even in the healthy elderly he would be reluctant to give the fourth vaccination, especially if they have just recovered from an omicron infection.

Testing

The free “citizen tests” at test centers or in pharmacies are now only available for risk groups, for people who deal with particularly vulnerable groups and for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. The 2G/3G access rules were abolished in March.

At their meeting in early July, the health ministers of the federal states again brought up the subject of compulsory testing. If the basic protective measures are not sufficient, they demanded that further containment measures should also be possible in the event of a bad pandemic. These included, among other things, access restrictions, the submission of immunity and test certificates and upper limits for persons.

The Greens health politician Janosch Dahmen also advocates such a general obligation to test for events: “Because even vaccinated and recovered people can – albeit less frequently – become infected and infect others.”

Gassen sees things differently. “I would advise against attending a rock concert in the stadium for anyone who has a weakened immune system or is previously ill,” he told the “NOZ”. A test requirement for events would be “a crazy roll backwards”.